Chapter 707: Date Battle
"Being a captain isn't difficult. As long as you understand what your team members are thinking, leading them becomes much easier."
Obito generously shared his experience as a squad captain with an Uchiha ninja who was about to be transferred out of the Police Force.
"I see. No wonder you're always praised during Clan Meetings, Obito. There really are a lot of tricks to leading a team," the Uchiha ninja said in admiration.
To encourage the Uchiha ninja to actively build good relationships with their new squad members, Shisui often highlighted those who performed well and presented them as examples during Clan Meetings.
As one of the Uchiha's current representative geniuses, combined with his excellent performance as a captain, Obito was naturally mentioned more often than most.
"Thanks a lot."
After thanking Obito, the Uchiha ninja turned toward Uchiha Teuchi.
"Boss, give me two pancakes too. Put Obito's on my tab."
With that, he began reaching for his wallet.
"No need, no need. I'll pay for mine," Obito quickly waved his hand.
He actually quite enjoyed the feeling of teaching and guiding others.
"Alright, then. I'm heading to work."
The Uchiha ninja nodded, put the extra money back into his wallet, and left with his pancake.
"Mm."
Obito responded before heading toward the training ground while eating his own pancake.
As he approached, his excellent eyesight allowed him to spot his three squad members from far away.
"They're pretty early today."
Obito felt somewhat surprised.
Mugetsu rarely made his disciples wait for him. He usually arrived around five minutes early.
As Mugetsu's strongest disciple, Obito had naturally inherited this excellent habit.
Since Izumo, Kotetsu, and Anko had arrived even earlier than Obito, they must have come quite a while ahead of schedule.
"As expected of my team members."
Obito was extremely pleased.
He immediately decided that he would teach them the Body Flicker Technique today.
"Captain Obito, good morning!"
Anko was the first to notice him approaching and greeted him cheerfully.
Izumo and Kotetsu quickly followed.
"Good morning, Captain Obito!"
"Morning!"
"Good morning to you too."
Obito responded with a broad smile.
Being greeted as "Captain Obito" first thing in the morning felt wonderful.
Obito had even begun worrying that if he stopped being a captain one day, he might have trouble adjusting.
"Captain Obito, you like Rin, don't you?" Anko suddenly asked.
Obito stumbled.
He nearly fell flat on the ground.
After barely regaining his balance, he stared at Anko with a baffled expression.
He had never told anyone about that.
How did Anko know such an important secret?
Izumo and Kotetsu also looked at Anko speechlessly.
How could she just say something like that without any buildup whatsoever?
Their trip to Kirigakure for the exchange meeting had made both of them realize Obito's feelings for Rin.
To repay Obito for all the effort he had put into teaching them, Izumo and Kotetsu had decided to help him win Rin's affection.
As for Anko, she had accidentally overheard their discussion and ended up getting dragged into the plan.
"Ahem."
Obito coughed softly, his face turning slightly red.
"First, I think we need to define what you mean by 'like.'"
"Liking someone is actually pretty normal. For example, I like all of you too. I even want you to become members of my Hokage Guard Platoon in the future."
"Thank you for liking us, Captain Obito, but your feelings for Rin are obviously not that kind of liking," Izumo said directly.
"It's romantic interest in the opposite sex!"
Since Anko had already exposed the topic, Izumo saw no reason to continue beating around the bush.
"Uh... it's not what you're imagining," Obito tried to explain.
"Oh, so Captain Obito doesn't like Rin after all?"
Kotetsu deliberately showed a look of realization.
"Then we misunderstood. Next time we see Rin, we should probably tell her."
"It's not that I don't like her!"
Obito immediately panicked.
Words like that absolutely could not spread.
What if Rin actually believed them?
"So do you like her or not?" Anko asked.
"It's not really a matter of liking or not liking."
Obito tried desperately to explain.
"It's more like... having a good impression of someone."
"You're still young, so you might not understand. It means you think the other person is really good, and sometimes you find yourself thinking about her."
"Isn't that just liking someone?"
Kotetsu stared at him.
"And Captain Obito, you're only a few years older than us."
"Uh..."
Obito rubbed his forehead.
"Then maybe I like her a little."
He sighed and finally admitted it.
It was difficult to describe the feeling.
It was as though a treasure he had carefully hidden away had suddenly been discovered by someone else.
"Captain Obito, allow us, the Emotional Duo, to help you win the heart of the person you like!"
Kotetsu suddenly lowered his voice and spoke with exaggerated seriousness.
He then dramatically spread both arms toward Izumo.
"Izumo is a veteran reader of romance novels! He has read hundreds of them and mastered countless dating and courtship strategies. He is an absolute expert in romance!"
"He's that impressive?"
Obito looked genuinely surprised.
Even if they were only romance novels, reading hundreds was still an incredible number.
At some point, Izumo had put on a pair of black framed glasses.
He pushed them up with his middle finger.
"I wouldn't call myself an expert. I simply know somewhat more about the theoretical side of romance than most people."
Then Izumo solemnly gestured toward Kotetsu with both arms.
"Kotetsu, on the other hand, has a childhood friend, so he possesses more practical experience. He is a powerhouse in real world application and can be much more useful during actual combat."
"A childhood friend? Practical experience?"
Obito's eyes widened.
"That sounds impressive too."
He had not expected his own squad members to be ahead of him in matters like this.
Young people these days were terrifying.
"What about me?"
Anko suddenly jumped between the two of them.
"Why is it only the Emotional Duo?"
Neither of them had introduced her.
She was the Ninja Academy's perennial top student, a genius, and the strongest member of the squad.
"Then it's the Emotional Duo plus Anko," Izumo replied.
"Why isn't it the Emotional Trio?"
"Because you're special, Anko. You need to be listed separately."
"Alright, then."
Anko accepted the explanation immediately.
There was no helping it.
She was simply too much of a genius.
Geniuses were destined to stand apart from ordinary people.
"It's obviously because they think she doesn't understand anything and are excluding her."
Obito silently saw through everything.
However, he had no intention of exposing them.
Having Anko help plan his romantic life did feel somewhat inappropriate.
She was probably better suited to being the mascot.
"Enough with the unrelated stuff. It's almost time. Let's start training."
Seeing that their scheduled training time had nearly arrived, Obito finally moved the conversation back on track.
During the Kirigakure exchange meeting, he had carefully observed Anko, Izumo, and Kotetsu's battles.
Through those matches, he had identified several weaknesses in each of them.
The group trained until noon.
Only after repeated insistence from Kotetsu and the others did they return to the conversation from that morning.
"Captain Obito, if you like Rin, why haven't you done anything about it?" Izumo asked curiously.
If he wanted to give proper advice, he first needed to understand the situation.
He could not simply make suggestions without knowing anything.
"I already told you. I only like her a little."
Obito immediately emphasized his point.
"No. Actually, it's not even liking. It's just a good impression."
Kotetsu fell silent.
Obito's stubbornness might actually surpass his strength.
Whenever Rin complimented him, Obito's happiness practically overflowed from his entire body.
And he called that only "liking her a little"?
"Captain Obito is extremely shy and easily embarrassed when romance is involved."
Izumo silently recorded this information in his mind.
He then continued asking questions.
"Then let me ask this. If Rin became Captain Obito's girlfriend, would Captain Obito be happy?"
"Of course I'd be happy."
Obito answered without thinking.
Seeing the three of them immediately give him a look that clearly said, "And you still claim you don't like her," Obito hurriedly tried to save himself.
"After all, Rin is such a good person. Anyone would probably feel the same way."
Obito simply could not bring himself to say that he would not be happy if Rin became his girlfriend.
Just imagining such a possibility already filled him with happiness.
"Captain Obito, do you know what Rin likes and dislikes?" Izumo continued.
"Rin likes growing flowers and drawing. She likes strawberries. She doesn't like cooked seafood, she hates war, and then there's..."
Obito began listing Rin's preferences one after another as naturally as though he were reciting something he had memorized countless times.
Izumo's expression gradually became appreciative.
Obito actually knew her extremely well.
He had a clear grasp of nearly everything Rin liked and disliked.
"The intelligence is unexpectedly comprehensive."
Izumo pushed his black framed glasses upward with one hand.
"This greatly increases our probability of victory in the coming war."
"War?"
Obito looked at him in confusion.
How had this suddenly become a war?
"Love is war!"
Izumo spoke with an extremely serious and solemn expression.
"And it is an exceptionally difficult war."
"Even successfully confessing does not necessarily mean complete victory."
"In a romantic relationship, the person who confesses first often occupies a more passive position and must invest more effort."
"Based on my experience from reading hundreds of romance novels, the person who confesses first usually has to rack their brains beforehand, doing everything possible to increase the chance of the confession succeeding."
"Even after entering the relationship, they still have to constantly think of ways to maintain it."
"And when a breakup happens, it's often the person who was confessed to who initiates it."
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
Obito looked shocked.
Could there truly be such a huge difference depending solely on who confessed first?
However, after thinking more carefully, he realized that there was some logic to it.
It was somewhat similar to something Mugetsu had once explained about sunk costs.
The person who confessed first might have invested more into pursuing the relationship.
Because of that greater investment, they would naturally care more about preserving it and might be more willing to compromise.
"Of course."
Izumo nodded.
"I once read a novel where the male and female leads already liked each other in the first volume."
"But because both of them wanted the other person to confess first, they used every trick imaginable against each other."
"Eight volumes later, they still hadn't formally confessed."
Obito fell into deep thought.
If Rin was thinking along similar lines, then should he be the one to confess first?
"But novels are still just novels," Kotetsu said.
"I think that if two people genuinely like each other, that's already enough. There's no need to worry about all those complicated things."
Stories needed drama.
Reality did not necessarily have to follow the same logic.
"That's true."
Izumo nodded in agreement.
"As long as the confession succeeds, that's already good enough. Waiting for the girl to confess first is too difficult."
Although he had found that particular novel extremely entertaining, trying to recreate something like that in reality would be unnecessary.
"Then our operational objective is decided!"
Izumo clenched his fist enthusiastically.
"Captain Obito will successfully confess to Rin!"
"That's way too early!"
Obito immediately waved both hands.
If the confession succeeded, that would naturally be wonderful.
But what if it failed?
How was he supposed to face Rin afterward?
The atmosphere between them would become unbearably awkward.
"Aim high, but act realistically."
Kotetsu gave a sly smile.
"First, go on dates and build up your relationship. Then confess when the timing is right."
"Dating..."
Obito became somewhat tempted.
Perhaps he really should be more proactive.
It was similar to learning Ninjutsu.
Trying did not guarantee success.
But if you never tried at all, then success was impossible.
"You should still focus your energy on training."
Obito eventually shook his head.
"You don't need to spend so much time worrying about my personal matters."
For Izumo, Kotetsu, and Anko, training was the truly important thing.
Their current age was a crucial period for building a strong foundation.
If they became distracted because of Obito's romantic problems, that would be a real loss.
"And don't think we're stopping this afternoon's training just so you can keep discussing this."
Obito immediately warned them.
If their true goal was simply to find an excuse to make training easier, absolutely not.
"We'll still train seriously."
Izumo patted his chest.
"But we don't train every single day, right? We still have weekends."
Izumo genuinely wanted to help Obito pursue Rin.
However, he also understood Obito's personality well enough to know that using this as an excuse to avoid training would never work.
Obito usually joked around with them and rarely acted like a strict jonin captain.
But when it came to their training, he was extremely responsible and never careless.
In some ways, he was even more professional than their actual jonin captain, Ishizaka Yoshio.
His training plans were always well structured and reasonable.
"Strength is the foundation of a ninja's existence. We understand that," Kotetsu added.
"We just think you've treated us really well, Captain Obito, so we want to repay you somehow."
"That's right, that's right."
Anko nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at grain.
Obito scratched his head, feeling slightly embarrassed.
He was actually only following Mugetsu's example.
And compared to Mugetsu, he had not even learned how to do it perfectly yet.
"Then we can talk about it on weekends."
Obito smiled.
"Your serious training is already repayment enough. The squad I lead can't afford to be weak."
When afternoon training arrived, Obito immediately led them back into practice.
...
Friday's training eventually ended.
The moment Obito announced their dismissal, Kotetsu, Izumo, and Anko did not leave.
Instead, the three surrounded him.
"Captain Obito, we've completed the first date operation plan!"
Kotetsu spoke excitedly.
"Captain Obito, take a look."
Izumo handed Obito a scroll.
"If there are no problems, we can proceed immediately."
Obito's expression became strange.
Why did this feel so formal?
They had even written everything down on an actual scroll.
Still, when Obito opened it and began reading, surprise quickly appeared on his face.
"Yamanaka Flower Shop will be holding a promotional event on Saturday..."
"Yanzawa Flower Shop on Commercial Street carries the widest variety of flowers in Konoha..."
The beginning of the scroll contained all kinds of gathered intelligence.
Flower shop promotions.
The location of the art museum.
Nearby restaurants.
Various other useful locations and schedules.
Then came detailed operational instructions.
"You can use the flower shop promotion as an excuse to invite Rin out."
"The ideal meeting time should be relatively close to dinner while still leaving enough time beforehand."
"After browsing the flower shop, naturally suggest eating together."
"You must be the one to pay for dinner."
"This way..."
After the intelligence section came detailed strategies explaining exactly how to use each piece of information during the date.
"Captain Obito, pretty good, right?"
Kotetsu asked confidently.
To create this operational plan, he and Izumo had spent almost the entire week working on it whenever they were not training.
"You guys..."
Obito looked at them, feeling both touched and helpless.
There was so much information here.
They must have spent a great deal of time gathering and organizing everything.
"So, Captain Obito."
Izumo looked at him seriously.
"Do you think we can proceed with the operation?"
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